I think that Dr. B's visit was very informative. Palliative Care Doctors focus a lot on relieving the pain of patients and their loved ones. He said the main goal for him was to promote the best quality of life for his patients. Dr. B made it clear that there is a difference between hospice and palliative care. Hospice basically provides support and helps manage pain for patients at the end of life. On the other hand, palliative care works with patients and their families on physical/emotional pain, offers counseling and provides support groups. I was surprised at how "calm" he was when he was talking about death and certain situations. I know if it would have been me talking I probably would have been an emotional wreck. One thing he mentioned that kind of stuck with me was the fact that most palliative care doctors find meaning in death. Which is odd if you think about it, but I guess that just means that most of them have had to deal with death in their own lives. Probably at an early age. I enjoyed having him come and talk with us though and I think it really contributed to the class.
After his visit the first time in a past class, I wondered more about palliative care. After the this time listening to him speak to us, I was more appreciative of him and other doctors in his field because at the end of life, comfort is the most important thing. Even if all the tubes and technology can sustain life for longer, if the patient is in pain and uncomfortable, then is life worth living longer?
When you're able to actually interact with people and not simply watch a video, you gain a completely new perspective. The question posed above by Morgan is never really an easy one, but I think we also have to remember that we're often defying nature with modern medicine. Dying is a natural process but our culture often tries to avoid it at all costs. Maybe sometimes it's best to let the natural order proceed. As the doctor put it, dying's as natural as birth.
Dr. B convinced me that this class should be a required course. He made the frontline video more real to me. Heck, he made the fact that "I will probably face the death of one of my loved ones eventually" real. It astonishes me that I never had a mature discussion like this with my parents or grandparents. For being something so universal, death has a way of not coming up until someone close to us passes away. It brought up some real issues I think should be discussed more. i really appreiciated the fact that he took his time to come up here and talk with us on his own free time. His talk, I think, will be what I remember from this class 50 years from now.
Most of what Dr. B said seemed a little too familar to me. There was alot that I see on a daily basis when I go into work. I work with Hospice, I talk about Hospice with my co-workers at times. Sometimes, I even get to talk to Hospice people when they come into the Assistant living facility. One thing I didn't know a lot about was palliative care. It was interesting to see his perspective on both topics. It is evident that he has seen a lot of death and had to deal with a lot of family members. I only say this for the way that he was talking. You can tell that he has a different outlook on life rather than lingering on death. It was a great class opportunity to be in. It puts a different spin on everything that we have been talking about along with putting a different thought in our heads about death.
I am grateful that Dr. B took time out his day to come and talk to us about an issue that is the "death of us" literally and figuratively. Listening to him made me think why is it that we can talk about any and everything else even if it would never happen, but yet we can't talk about death knowing that its a for sure thing that everyone has to go through. I feel we should be more open about it with our families and embrace death in a more comfortable way rather than to fear it. Dr. B's aspect of accepting death and being able to give us his first hand experiences and views really helped me better understand this course and my outlook of death.
I agree with everyone here that Dr. B's speech was very informative. The things that I found most interesting was how he handled everyone's questions about death. Of course, I realize that he has been around death for quite some time, seeing as it comes with the profession, respectively. I was personally very impressed with how well he answered everyone's questions. I could tell just in his face alone that his outlook on death was certainly different than most everyone else's, including my own, and with that, allowed me to have a very deep respect for him and his profession.
I think that Dr. B's visit was very informative. Palliative Care Doctors focus a lot on relieving the pain of patients and their loved ones. He said the main goal for him was to promote the best quality of life for his patients.
ReplyDeleteDr. B made it clear that there is a difference between hospice and palliative care. Hospice basically provides support and helps manage pain for patients at the end of life. On the other hand, palliative care works with patients and their families on physical/emotional pain, offers counseling and provides support groups.
I was surprised at how "calm" he was when he was talking about death and certain situations. I know if it would have been me talking I probably would have been an emotional wreck.
One thing he mentioned that kind of stuck with me was the fact that most palliative care doctors find meaning in death. Which is odd if you think about it, but I guess that just means that most of them have had to deal with death in their own lives. Probably at an early age.
I enjoyed having him come and talk with us though and I think it really contributed to the class.
After his visit the first time in a past class, I wondered more about palliative care. After the this time listening to him speak to us, I was more appreciative of him and other doctors in his field because at the end of life, comfort is the most important thing. Even if all the tubes and technology can sustain life for longer, if the patient is in pain and uncomfortable, then is life worth living longer?
ReplyDeleteWhen you're able to actually interact with people and not simply watch a video, you gain a completely new perspective. The question posed above by Morgan is never really an easy one, but I think we also have to remember that we're often defying nature with modern medicine. Dying is a natural process but our culture often tries to avoid it at all costs. Maybe sometimes it's best to let the natural order proceed. As the doctor put it, dying's as natural as birth.
ReplyDeleteDr. B convinced me that this class should be a required course. He made the frontline video more real to me. Heck, he made the fact that "I will probably face the death of one of my loved ones eventually" real. It astonishes me that I never had a mature discussion like this with my parents or grandparents. For being something so universal, death has a way of not coming up until someone close to us passes away. It brought up some real issues I think should be discussed more. i really appreiciated the fact that he took his time to come up here and talk with us on his own free time. His talk, I think, will be what I remember from this class 50 years from now.
ReplyDeleteMost of what Dr. B said seemed a little too familar to me. There was alot that I see on a daily basis when I go into work. I work with Hospice, I talk about Hospice with my co-workers at times. Sometimes, I even get to talk to Hospice people when they come into the Assistant living facility.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I didn't know a lot about was palliative care. It was interesting to see his perspective on both topics. It is evident that he has seen a lot of death and had to deal with a lot of family members. I only say this for the way that he was talking. You can tell that he has a different outlook on life rather than lingering on death.
It was a great class opportunity to be in. It puts a different spin on everything that we have been talking about along with putting a different thought in our heads about death.
from Brandon
ReplyDeleteI am grateful that Dr. B took time out his day to come and talk to us about an issue that is the "death of us" literally and figuratively. Listening to him made me think why is it that we can talk about any and everything else even if it would never happen, but yet we can't talk about death knowing that its a for sure thing that everyone has to go through. I feel we should be more open about it with our families and embrace death in a more comfortable way rather than to fear it. Dr. B's aspect of accepting death and being able to give us his first hand experiences and views really helped me better understand this course and my outlook of death.
I agree with everyone here that Dr. B's speech was very informative. The things that I found most interesting was how he handled everyone's questions about death. Of course, I realize that he has been around death for quite some time, seeing as it comes with the profession, respectively. I was personally very impressed with how well he answered everyone's questions. I could tell just in his face alone that his outlook on death was certainly different than most everyone else's, including my own, and with that, allowed me to have a very deep respect for him and his profession.
ReplyDelete